


Prompt 8 (Duke/MC/Charles)

by Yoselin



Series: Villainous Nights Prompts [8]
Category: Villainous Nights (Visual Novel)
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 12:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15461802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoselin/pseuds/Yoselin
Summary: Name used is Valkyrie. Originally posted to TumblrWarnings for prescription drug use and violence.Prompt: “VN Prompt AU - MC was part of the syndicate a long time ago (when it was only Bat, Badger, Wolf and Cobra) before she disappeared. Everyone believing she was either dead or captured by Optimus. Fast forward years later with two new members of syndicate, they meet a MC with no memory of the syndicate but is well versed in using her powers and slightly closed off.”





	Prompt 8 (Duke/MC/Charles)

“One coffee, no cream, and two sugars,” I extend the cup to Charles.   
Charles, tapping away at a tablet open to some spreadsheets, takes the drink without glancing at me. “You’re late, Gray.”  
I glance down at my own drink, a boba tea rather than coffee, and shrug. “The boba place usually takes a while.”  
There’s silence on his end and I bite the inside of my cheek. I have been Charles Kane’s assistant for three years as well as his on-and-off-again girlfriend for about the same amount of time. Despite this, our interactions are little more than the occasional greeting or meeting.   
I power on my computer to find that there are several emails I haven’t read from Sampson Clarke and a few other Optimus higher ups. In the midst of all the work I’ve been doing, I’ve been neglecting my other responsibilities to Optimus.   
The list of unopened mail is standard, a few regarding a meeting, a few from Dahlia London regarding her new PR ideas, and so on. I scroll through it and rub at one eye. I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.   
“Sleeping on the job, Gray?” Charles’ condescending voice sounds from his desk. He’s drinking from his coffee cup and scribbling notes on a piece of paper.   
I sit up in my chair and force off the yawn. In truth, I’ve been having my weird dreams again, but I don’t want Charles to know that. Every time I bring those dreams up, the dreams of cobras and wolves and other animals, he gets weird.   
“Binged a TV show,” I lie, “Something about a 1920s speak easy and a really hot doctor.”  
Charles grunts, displeased, and I pretend not to notice. I continue to scroll down the list of emails until I find one labeled “Important”.   
The header reads: “ChatSphere Purchase” and is from Sampson. I open it and skim through the document. Apparently, Duke Vale has refused to sign away ChatSphere once more.   
I take some notes of the important documents and scroll down. Sampson has attached an article from a news media source about ChatSphere. The article comes attached with a picture of the elusive CEO himself.   
Duke Vale stares back at me through the photo with no emotion. Just like the gossip magazines claim, the man is a human icicle that lets no one in. I take a moment to trace his features mentally. For some reason, there has always been something about him that makes me feel weird.   
I shake my head when I notice that Charles is staring at me and click out of the email.   
“Anything you need help with today?” I make my voice sound completely composed and professional.   
I don’t quite know what I am with Charles now, one of the many downsides of being on-and-off, so I find professional is the way to go. Last time I remembered, we were dating, but then another massive blow out had followed a few days ago and now I am unsure.   
Charles tosses his empty coffee cup into a bin and motions for me to follow. I get up reluctantly and grab my work journal. It’s open to a few doodles of a holographic bat with its tongue sticking out.   
“Another weird doodle? You draw a bunch of those,” Charles mutters. For some reason, he sounds irritated.   
I flick through the pages of my journal. He’s right on some note although I resent the word ‘weird’. My room in my apartment is covered in weird drawings of animals. A white wolf with blue eyes standing on an icy pond is pasted to my desk, my bedroom wall has a photo of a red cobra awaiting to strike, my closet door has a badger perched on a mound of Earth, and my journal is covered in bat icons.   
I shrug and follow Charles down the winding corridors of Optimus. “Creativity, Charles.”  
My reply is dry and he sends me a frigid glare in return. It seems our little couple spat hasn’t exactly left his mind either.   
After quite a few twists and turns, we arrive to the Optimus meeting room. The heads of departments are gathered inside. While I am not allowed to enter, I hang back outside the door and hand Charles his notes. I’ve spent all of yesterday afternoon writing them and am very proud of the way they turned out.   
“Wait outside for the meeting to end. Did you finish drafting the emails to HR?” Charles busies himself pulling out his tablet and powering it on.   
“Done and done. It’s all ready for you to review them,” I pull out my own tablet to verify. My wallpaper is of monarch butterflies in flight and I take a moment to appreciate the designs before clicking on the tab with the drafted emails.   
Charles makes a noise, skims through them, then nods. His finger signs off on my tablet, scrawling his signature on the email bottom, and I frown.   
There’s dried blood on his knuckles, a remnant of some type of fight. My hand catches his before I can stop myself.   
“Are you hurt?” I turn his palm over to see more scratches.   
Charles withdraws his hand quickly and rubs at his jaw. In the fluorescent lighting of the hallway, I can see a faint bruise on the bottom of his mouth. The injury looks fairly recent and very painful.   
“Focus on your task, Gray,” Charles warns. He spins around and enters the meeting room without another word.   
I stare at his back and shake my head.   
For some reason, the bruise on his jaw has given me a headache. A weird sense of deja vu passes through me and I try to ignore it as the pain in my skull increases in force. 

Waiting for Charles to finish up a meeting is boring, so I occupy myself by calling Robin. My roommate of a few years is usually just a phone call away and talking to them always brings me some peace of mind.  
They answer on the fourth ring, and, by the sound of their tone, they’re probably back at our apartment lounging on the couch.   
“Should you be calling during work hours, Miss Responsibility?” Robin’s tone is teasing and I can hear the telltale pings of a video game in the background.   
“Should you be skipping work?” I try to suppress my smirk and walk further away from the meeting room.   
“How dare you? I’m deathly ill,” Robin fakes a few coughs, “But I’m not the only one, am I? I heard you tossing and turning all night, Val. Is it another one of your nightmares?”   
I bite my lip. They’re right. The reason why I haven’t been sleeping so often are the dreams.   
The dreams I get every night are bizarre. Some dreams range from weird events that feel like memories, like taking an empty train car to some weird destination, or slipping on a red butterfly mask, while some dreams feel more abstract and bizarre such as watching a Bat’s hologram flicker on and off on a laptop screen or watching a wall of ice rise before a wolf.   
I press two fingers to my nose and close my eyes. My headache is growing worse. Remembering my dreams usually gives me migraines.   
“Something like that,” I sigh. I lean against a wall and stare at Optimus’ windows. I am painfully tired and wish I could just crawl into bed and sleep.   
Robin’s snort can be heard from the line and I hear a victory sound effect. They’ve advanced a level. “Which one was it this time? The one where you’re a butterfly or the one where you’re making out with Duke Vale?”  
I stammer and a furious blush ignites on my face. I regret ever telling Robin about that last one.   
“It was not a make-out,” I hiss at them and cup my hand over my mouth so that only the cell can overhear, “Just a minor peck on the lips. It was a weird dream and I should have never told you about it since you went and told Charles.”  
I close my eyes and wince. The dream I had, had about Duke had enraged Charles for some reason. After Robin had let it slip that I had dreamt that, Charles had gotten defensive and questioned me if I had any more dreams about Vale or other strangers. His anger had grown worse when he had seen the sketches in my room about the animals I drew. He had torn the butterfly one off the wall and torn it to shreds right in front of me.   
“I never liked that guy,” Robin mutters, “But what was your dream about?”  
I glance at the meeting room. The meeting is still ongoing and Charles looks entirely occupied as he takes notes. He hasn’t noticed my phone call yet, good.   
My shoulders droop and I lean against the wall. “It’s weird. I dreamt that I was running on a rooftop. I was trying to be silent and I kept thinking about how important a mission was. It was like a spy flick. I dropped down on the ceiling of Optimus Tower and was reporting my status to someone on an earpiece. I can’t tell who was on the other line, a robotic male voice? I don’t know. The dream cut off before I could enter the tower.”  
Robin processes the information and lets out a low whistle. “You should write your dreams down somewhere and profit off of it. I like that one. It kind of goes well with the one you dream you had about sparring with a Badger.”  
“Maybe,” I give a noncommittal response. Recalling my dream has given me a ponding migraine. I have to squeeze my eyes shut to block out the lights in the room.   
“Charles is in a meeting,” I voice out. My temples feel like someone is taking a hammer to them. I suddenly feel very dizzy.   
Robin makes a sound of displeasure at Charles’ name. It is no secret that they dislike him and that he dislikes them back. While Robin has got on well enough with my previous lovers, they have a real thing against Charles.   
“Is he coming home tonight? If he is, I’m not making him dinner,” Robin grinds out.   
I glance at my watch. It is midmorning and the meeting has a few more minutes left.   
“I don’t know. We had a fight a few nights ago and I don’t know if we’re still dating,” I shrug.   
Robin makes a sound. “The whole on-and-off thing isn’t good for you, Val. You should just cut the loser loose and find someone better.”  
Now it’s my turn to grimace. “You had the same on and off again girlfriend from high school to college-“  
“And that means I know how bad those relationships can be. Trust me. I mean, why even date the guy? He’s your boss and he’s creepy. Doesn’t Optimus have some regulations against it?”  
I press my palm to my temple and wince at another painful wave.   
“No rules against it. Besides, I don’t know-I don’t remember not dating Charles,” I mumble.   
It’s the truth. For some odd reason, Charles has been a staple of my life for a long time. I know we’ve only been together for three years, but it feels longer. The time of my life before coming to Optimus is one big muddled cloud, and he’s the only thing I can remember.   
I had a nasty accident three years ago which left me with muddled memories. There’s gaps in what I can remember still despite how long it’s been. I wonder if it’s normal to have blank spots in my memory, fragments that don’t make sense and give me headaches, after three years but the Optimus sponsored doctors say it is. I’ve been given medications for my “memory” problems by Optimus hired specialists. A bottle of pills rests in my purse now.   
I fish it out and pop a tablet. Immediately, my pain dissipates and the weird dream I had, had fades from memory. I suddenly can no longer remember the specifics of it.   
I blink and realize Robin has been talking this entire time.   
“-he just rubs me the wrong way, Val. Charles acts like he knows all these things about you, and he doesn’t like to hear you talk about anything not-Optimus related. It’s weird. Be careful around him, Val. I don’t trust him.”  
I turn and see that the meeting has ended. The people are rising from their seats and Charles is speaking with Sampson.   
“Right, yeah, sure. Look, I gotta go. See you at dinner?”   
Robin gives me an affirmative and I hang up on them. Slipping the phone into my purse, I enter the meeting room just as it clears out. 

Charles and Sampson are in heated discussion when I go in. Like Charles, Sampson looks injured too. There’s a cut on his own hand and the corner of his eye is slightly bruised. It looks like they both were in a bad fight.   
When they see me approach, their talk ceases. I only manage to hear Charles say “Syndicate” before Sampson clears his throat and nods at me. Whatever they are discussing, they don’t want me to overhear.   
I pretend like I’m not curious and come to rest next to Charles.   
“Anything I can help with?” I greet Sampson with my best attempt at a charming smile.   
He returns it tenfold, his smile that of a male model, and extends a hand to me in greeting. I take it and notice that, like Charles, his knuckles are bruised.   
“Val, nice to see you,” Sampson greets, “You look tired.”  
I reach up to my eyes where dark circles must be and hide my grimace. “Working late.”  
Charles glances at me and notices the pills in my hand. I still have not put them away. The clear container displays the blue pills with the Optimus logo clearly.   
“She’s been getting headaches often,” he relays to Sampson.   
I wave away their concern and pocket the pills in my bag. “Do you need me for anything?”  
“Go on your lunch break if you want. I’m going to talk with a few other Optimus Heads while you’re at it. Meet me back at my office,” Charles instructs.   
I don’t hesitate. As soon as he is done speaking, I am waving them away and am out the door.   
Once it closes behind me, I have to take a breath. For some reason, the sight of blood on Sampson’s knuckles sends a prickle of something through me. My head feels weird and my own hands ache.   
I look down at my hands and almost faint. On my skin is dried blood and bruises. My hands begin to shake and I take a step to rush to the bathroom-  
But then I blink and it’s gone. My hands are back to normal and my headache returns full force despite the medicine I’ve just taken.   
I shake my head to clear it and force the feeling of something being wrong away. Hallucinations like that are common for me. 

The thing about my dreams is how vivid they feel. I have normal dreams, dreams of falling off cliffs or giving a speech naked, but my other dreams are different. Somehow, the ones I have almost nightly, feel real.   
The night before, I had a dream of slinking across Optimus Tower. The day before that, I dreamt of ice walls and wolves. The one before that, I dreamt of a lone train car moving to some unknown destination.   
My dreams come vividly and random. They hit me with full force and trick me into thinking they’re real. Unlike regular dreams, these dreams are crystal clear. I can remember the feeling of being in them, can remember my experiences within them, and can even almost trick myself into thinking I’m awake during them.   
They’re bizarre and off-putting-  
And sometimes they bleed into my real life.   
Hallucinations like the one I just suffered through are common. Sometimes, a small little thing will bring them on.   
One time, Robin was watching a nature documentary of a Cobra and I hallucinated a man with red eyes peering at me.   
Another time, I watched a snow globe’s artificial snow swirl around and hallucinated a white wolf coming at me.   
Another time, I heard the sound of a constructor using a tool against cracking cement and hallucinated almost crashing into a wall made of earth.   
The hallucinations feel real and deceive me. I used to get them often, any little thing could force them on me, but then Optimus began treating me. Optimus, with its award winning doctors, diagnosed me with some mental health problem brought on by stress. They gave me special medication to take, and it almost worked.   
For a few months, the medication was enough. With one pill, I was free for months on end. It was an easy time then, and I could easily distinguish between real life and fiction-  
But then the memories came full force.   
In my second year of Optimus, my telekinesis made itself known. My powers came to life when I had almost dropped an important binder down the stairs. My abilities had awoken up almost like a muscle that had been unused for years.   
I had been trained by Optimus since then. They had strengthened my abilities and given me more control with them. Unfortunately, that also meant my hallucinations rose back up again.   
It was as if a part of me had awoken with my abilities. Some bizarre part of me, something trapped in my stress, had come up with my powers. Now, weird dreams were common and hallucinations frequent.   
As I sit in the Optimus cafeteria, an untouched salad before me, I feel myself slinking back into sleep. It has been a long day and exhaustion is washing over me. I have barely time to rest my head on my hand before I’m plunging into another weird dream.   
_This dream immediately has the telltale sign of a nightmare. I am in a laboratory of some sort, pinned down by straps and restraints. No matter how much I struggle, I cannot get out.  
Fear crushes me like a vice and my powers won’t work. I strain and strain until my nose bleeds yet my abilities will not awaken. This makes me feel an even greater rush of panic.  
I am all but screaming when the lab door slides open. People I can’t see with the glare of a spotlight aiming at me surround me. I can never make out their faces, but I can definitely tell they’re bad news.   
Hands reach for me, tighten the restraints until breathing almost becomes impossible, and murmur things. The feedback noise in my ears keeps me from hearing most of it but I make out the words, “Syndicate”, “Monarch”, and “Memory.”  
The world begins to twist and warp as the people draw closer. I fight and struggle, scream as words become impossible to make out by the cotton feeling in my mouth, and squeeze my eyes shut.   
A sedative is injected into me. I feel the effects on my body. It gradually makes moving harder and harder and harder.   
Eventually, opening my eyes is the only thing I can do.   
I peer up at the strangers around me. One stands out from the rest. His face is unknown to me, a strong force within my own mind is hiding it, but I can make out dark green eyes. They look so familiar yet so foreign.   
The green eyed stranger peers at me with a light and nods at someone else. He mumbles things about a “surgery” and “procedure”. Once his orders are relayed, he turns back to me and takes notes.   
The sedative continues in my bloodstream. Resisting it is futile and drowsiness takes hold. I find myself passing out.   
The last thing I hear is the phrase, “She won’t be able to remember.”_  
 **Remember.**  
That word sticks with me after I jolt myself awake. My eyes blink up to find that I am still in the cafeteria. My neck aches from sleeping awkwardly on a table and I stretch my arms over my head.   
Like any other time, waking up from my weird dreams is harsh. My headache increases in full force until I have to stop and breathe in and out. After popping another Optimus pill, some of the headache goes away along with the dream.   
It fades from memory as the medicine washes over me. The only thing that lingers is the word, Remember.   
I pinch the bridge of my nose.   
When I started working for Optimus, I suffered a head injury. On the way to work, I had been in an accident of some sort and had found myself in the hospital. My memory had been relatively fine, I could remember major events and things, but some parts of my memory were blank spots.   
I couldn’t remember applying to Optimus although my resume draft was on my laptop.   
I couldn’t remember dating Charles although he assured me we had been together for months.   
I couldn’t remember what my old occupation had been before Optimus although Robin had told me I disappeared for hours on end.   
I couldn’t remember why Duke Vale’s photo on a magazine was on my phone wallpaper although his pictures caused severe headaches.   
And I couldn’t remember why I started to like butterflies although now they were everywhere.   
I stand up from my seat and toss my untouched food away. A glance at my butterfly printed watch reveals that I am late. Groaning to myself, I get ready to face Charles. 

Charles is speaking on the phone when I arrive. The caller ID “HAYDEN BECKETT” is on the screen and I can make out Hayden’s picture next to it. Whatever conversation they are having, it is tense. Charles hisses something about a security breach into the line before the call ends.   
I raise an eyebrow and fail at sneaking into the room.   
“You’re late,” Charles murmurs. He turns away from me and flips through files. “How is it possible that I gave you the morning off and you somehow look more tired than before?”  
I bite down on my lip and shake my head at him. My exhaustion is peaking and I really don’t want to argue.   
“Can we please not fight? I don’t want a repeat of that night,” I sit down at my desk.   
That night, the night my maybe-maybe-not boyfriend and I may-have-or-may-have-not ended things.   
Charles opens his mouth to speak then changes his mind. He shakes his head and bites back whatever he was going to say. I’m grateful for it and turn to my desk.   
There’s a picture of a monarch butterfly perched on a flower. I trace it with one finger and bite my lip. For some reason, the word “Remember” from my dream makes me feel ill.  
“Charles?” I quietly call his name.   
His back is to me as he staples papers. He makes a sound to indicate he is listening.   
I take a deep breath.   
“Why did we start dating?”   
There’s an uncomfortable pause and I know I’ve screwed up. I may not be the most experienced with relationships, yet even I know you don’t ask a person _why_ you chose to date them.   
“We liked each other,” Charles’ reply is dry. I don’t know if he means to say it like that or if he’s just annoyed, but it stings.   
I grind my teeth together and lift the photo of the monarch butterfly. Some of the sun’s rays from outside reflects on it and makes it have a reddish hue-  
A brief hallucinations surfaces then. I see myself looking in a mirror with a red mask on my face. Someone is tying it down. I see a man in blue adjusting the ribbons to the back of my hair-  
And then the photo falls from my grasp and clatters loudly on the floor. Glass cracks and goes everywhere. The sound is enough to jolt me out of it.   
Charles spins around. “What was that?”  
“Sorry,” I reply. I pick the pieces up and toss them in the bin. “My medicine is getting weaker.”  
I fold the photo of the butterfly up and tuck it into my jeans. The Optimus medicine bottle rests on my desk and Charles can see how many pills I’ve taken since he refilled the prescription for me.   
The doctors had said to take one every time I’ve hallucinated, and I’ve almost drained the bottle in a week.   
“More of those hallucinations?” Charles sounds oddly disturbed. He takes the bottle and turns it over every which way. I can see him mentally counting the pills and making the calculation. When he’s done, he clenches his jaw and sets it back down.   
I feel almost embarrassed and press a hand to my temple. Why am I such a mental mess?  
Thankfully, Charles decides to not comment on it. He rubs at his jaw where the bruise is and shakes his head.   
“I’ll tell your doctor to up the dosage if possible. They shouldn’t be getting stronger,” he murmurs the last part under his breath and breezes past me. He is almost at the door when he stops suddenly.   
Almost as if an afterthought, he turns around.   
“Val, do you want to have dinner at my place tonight?”  
I stop. His words promise a date and maybe a reconciliation from our last fight, but his tone is deadpan. There’s no expression on his face and his dark green eyes are empty.   
“Sure,” I reply anyway. I clench my fists until he leaves the room.   
Missing my disappointment, Charles nods silently to himself and leaves.   
Once he is gone, I sigh.   
That’s usually the problem in our relationship. Charles flirts, spends nights with me, and takes me out to places, but it never seems like wants to. He is so closed off it is almost like he dates me because he _has_ to-  
Almost as if I am just another Optimus case he works on. 

With Charles gone and my work done for the day, I find myself dozing off in my chair. It is not normal for me to sleep so much, but exhaustion weighs heavy from many sleepless nights. Like before, I feel a pressure in my head, a sign that I will have another weird dream.   
_This time I’m in a strange room. The room is small in size and has only a long table, that has been pushed to one side, for furniture. A laptop rests on the table with a flickering Bat icon on it. A mechanical male voice sounds from it saying things._  
I can’t make out what he’s saying because I’m too far away. Instead, my focus is on a tall man with dark red eyes. He stands before me in some type of Cobra costume and spreads his hands almost as if defensively.   
My body is moving on its own accord and I’m sparring with him. It isn’t real fighting, but I’m definitely giving it all I’ve got. I’m pushing my body to the limit, straining against the limitations in my power, and packing as much as I can into the fight-  
But it isn’t enough. My telekinesis is weak and it flickers every so often. I can hardly lift a weight with it much less use it for combat.   
Eventually, I give up. I sink down to my knees and take deep breaths. My hands wave at my trainer to tell him to stop.   
The man in the cobra mask peers down at me. He takes in my weak state and his lips purse.   
“Your powers are strong, but you don’t have confidence in yourself. You have to be more assertive. Believe that you can take me down and you will.”  
I gather some of my breath and look up. “Easier said that done.”  
The man rights his posture and helps me up. I take his hand gladly and let him pull me to my feet. We turn to the others in the room. A man in a Wolf mask is fighting against a woman in a Badger mask.  
Their own fight is boding as well as mine. Their powers are strong, but they’re not being used correctly. The Wolf lacks self confidence in his strikes, and the Badger is almost gritting her teeth with the restraint of not unleashing her true potential. It’s ironic. One cannot use all the power he has, and the other will not use all the power she has.   
“We’re getting there,” the red eyed man places a hand on my back, “Slowly. You’re all growing. Soon, the Syndicate will be something great.”  
The Syndicate. There goes that bizarre name again.   
“Yeah, maybe my mission will help?” I turn to the red eyed man with anticipation.   
He clenches his jaw.   
“Your mission,” he doesn’t seem all that excited for it, “Are you sure you don’t want a partner? It is a simple mission but your powers aren’t strong en-“  
“I can handle it,” I interrupt him and make red light appear on my hands.   
The red eyed man still looks unconvinced. “You should reconsider. Having someone to have your back will make a world of difference. Wolf, Badger, Bat, or I will gladly accompany you. We can help you-“  
I shake my head, adamant.   
“I got it, seriously. All of you have gone on solo missions. This is my rite of passage,” I shrug and lift my water bottle with my abilities. My powers aren’t strong enough and it clatters to the ground.   
The red eyed man’s lips thin even more but he relents. He does want to give me the chance to prove myself. Even if I may doubt myself, he and he others believe in me.   
“Fine,” he agrees. He looks off-put still but he calls an end to practice. The other two halt their fight and move away to gather their things.   
The Wolf makes a small cube of ice appear in his palm and he hands it to the Badger. She presses it to an injury she received in training and nods her gratitude.   
The Cobra watches the exchange with pride. “He’s come along way, you know. He’s getting more confidence in himself and is growing. I think he could take over some day.”  
I nod and bite my lip. A blush flares across my face. I may not know why I am suddenly shy, but something about the white haired stranger intrigues me.   
The Cobra sees this and amusement flickers on his eyes. His face doesn’t change from its neutral expression but there’s definitely intrigue in his gaze.   
“You’re good for him, you know. You might just be able to crack through his walls. I’ve done all I can.”  
He turns away from me and calls to me over his shoulder.   
“Which is why you have to be careful on this mission. None of us want to see you hurt, Monarch.”  
I snap awake when a harsh pounding against my head rouses me. I have to clench my teeth to keep from crying out. My fingers have only enough time to snag a pill from the bottle before my consciousness comes back fully.   
I am still in Charles’ office but the window outside is dim. The workday has ended and most have left. Charles’ things are still here which means he hasn’t left me.   
I remember our planned date and stand up.   
Considering how late it is, I should probably go and find him. Charles enjoys staying late at Optimus and he will gladly keep us here all night if I don’t drag him out.   
I descend the staircase leading to the lobby when the last of sleep leaves me. Immediately, I see something is wrong.   
Optimus Tower is illuminated in red light stemming from the lobby and I can hear the pounding of booted feet on the ground. Security is shouting from the main entrance and a fight is underway.   
I freeze on the last ladder leading to the room. My hands clench against the railing and I peer through.   
I can hear the screams of security as they fight an opponent, hear the crackle of electricity in the air as something sends shocks through the atmosphere, and can hear a rumbling underneath my feet as the earth shakes.   
A huge battle is underway and I have to blink several times. For a second I think I am still dreaming, but then I hear Charles’ voice shouting orders and I realize I am very awake.   
Instinct tells me to run the other way and call for security, although they’re already down there, but a part of me-something deep within my core-forces me to run towards the fight.   
Flashes of light can be seen around the corner, the air is getting colder, and wind is whipping wildly through the room.   
I skid to a halt before entering the fray and clench my hands.   
Hesitation dawns on me and makes me question whether I should get involved-  
But then a powerful light of something collides into Charles and sends him flying back. He crashes against a wall and is knocked out cold.  
Panic overtakes me and I scream. Without thinking, I dive into the fight and have only enough time to fling a stranger back before she can deliver a final zap of electricity at Charles.   
Upon my arrival, the fight quickly freezes.   
Security is in piles on the floor, Charles is out cold, and the masked strangers are frozen in place.   
One is a purple Cat I have sent skidding back, another is a gray Falcon I have surprised-  
And the other two are familiar.   
The medicine I have taken has stripped me of the dream, yet I can sense a wave of deja vu wash over me. A man in a Wolf mask and a woman in a Badger mask freeze in place. Their faces bleed of color and shock makes them abandon their fight. Ice walls melt and earth walls crumble to dust.   
My own heart pounds as I stand protectively before Charles. My hands are spread in front of me and glowing with my power. It is a warning and a threat all at once.   
Silence spreads across the room and each masked member gapes.   
“Who are you?!” I break through the silence and take a step closer to Charles. He’s out completely cold and I need to get him to a medic.   
The crackle of an earpiece fills the room and a shocked male voice rings out. “Holy-“  
His voice is all that is needed to break through the tension.   
Two things happen at once.   
One is that the man in the Wolf mask recovers from his shock. Recognition bleeds into his features and his eyes widen. The name “Monarch” leaves his lips like a prayer and he extends a hand towards me almost as if he needs to confirm that I’m there-  
And the second one is that the purple cat recovers and sends a burst of electricity my way. It hits me in the chest and I have no time to scream before I’m falling back into unconsciousness.   
The last thing I hear is the name “Monarch” being shouted again as darkness overwhelms me.


End file.
